Snow Boy
by Kinasume
Summary: Hiccup's been struggling to keep the dragon he shot down and befriended a secret; add to that a trouble making flying kid with ice powers that's been tormenting him for weeks, and he's got a real problem. But what happens when this snow boy starts acting differently? Hijack, set in Berk while Hiccup's working with Toothless. Rating may change depending upon how I work with this.
1. Chapter 1

It had been going on for weeks, maybe even a month or two now. It seemed that every time Hiccup stepped out of his door, down he went. It wasn't even that cold out yet, but that didn't seem to matter to the annoying laughter he heard in the distance each time. He had grown suspicious of any ground he stepped on; it all seemed safe enough when he was putting his foot down. But as soon as he was walking relatively comfortably, suddenly, the ground on which he stood turned slick and frozen, and it was all downhill from there; literally. He ended up sliding downwards on either his butt or his back, waiting for the guaranteed impact of some tree or bush. If he was really unlucky, the ice would lead him to a building or rock, both of which often had the other teenaged vikings around them to add to the humiliating laughter. Like he wasn't picked on enough by them.

At first he was always really surprised and screamed practically the entire way down. Recently though, he had grown to expect it, and he just waited patiently for the experience to end.

There were other things that went on similar to this, sure. But sliding down a hill unexpectedly seemed to be the most common. Hiccup opened his door and walked outside, looking around suspiciously, knowing that he'd be sliding his way around relatively soon. He looked at the trees, in the sky, and as much on his roof as he could see, only to find nothing. Not that that was especially unusual. He sighed, and walked around his house, heading to the woods he knew contained his biggest secret.

Hiccup was surprised when nothing happened on his way to the little cutout where Toothless stayed. He was not, however, surprised to see a familiar pale, white-haired boy with a blue hoodie and a crooked staff teasing his dragon. Hiccup shook his head and sighed, running over to the two of them. The boy was floating around, sending little bits of ice to the black dragon's feet. Toothless, expectedly, was extremely unhappy with the situation, and was snapping and chasing the boy, trying to get him to leave; Hiccup could see that Toothless wasn't going to go much longer without his fire.

"No, no, no, no, no. Quit it. Right now. You're getting really old really fast Jack, and I draw the line at anything against Toothless. Get out," Hiccup exclaimed, more than done with the shenanigans which Jack was playing on him.

"Hey, calm down, freckles. We were just having a little fun, now, weren't we, beast?" Jack said, floating backwards and holding his hands up, his staff under one arm. Toothless snarled at him from behind Hiccup, then turned and walked away, burning his usual sleeping spot, in hopes that he could warm his feet a little.

Hiccup glared at Jack. He had been putting up with the pranks that Jack pulled on him for quite the while, and he was getting more than sick of them. "How about you do us all a favor and just leave this whole place alone. No one wants you around, whether they can see you or not. And as the only one here that can see you, I'm about ready to snap."

Jack smirked a little, and lowered to the ground, walking slowly towards Hiccup. "Alright then. You want me to leave? Fine, I might as well. But first…" his hand shot out and grabbed Hiccup's wrist, and all of a sudden, they were in the air, Berk becoming a rapidly shrinking couple of islands. Hiccup freaked out for a moment, before he realized what was going on and tried to get out of Jack's grip. "I wouldn't recommend that idea there, now, if I'm not holding onto you, you're falling. And I don't think that dragon of yours is going to be much use to you down there, where he can't get up," Jack said, laughing.

Hiccup sighed. He had a valid point. If he let go now, he'd be plummeting to his doom in the icy ocean. _Better to just wait this one out and see where it goes_, Hiccup thought.

They circled around in the air for awhile, Jack having a stupid grin on his face and clearly enjoying himself, Hiccup about ready to just fall into the watery depths and take his poor chances at swimming back to the island. Soon enough, Jack took them back downwards, and landed somewhere high on the mountain. It was mostly rock, though there were a few patches of soil with trees poking their ways out into the sky. Jack let go of Hiccup about five feet above the ground, where he proceeded to land on his feet, lose his balance, stumble, and roll among the rocks for a minute or two. By the time he stopped, he was scratched up in a number of places, bruised in several more, and had a couple of small cuts on his face.

"Thanks a lot. You know, you push my nerves an awful lot. I'm not kidding when I'm telling you that I'm about to snap, snow boy." As usual, Jack ignored him.

"Aw, come on, lighten up. It's not like I'm hurting you or anything. You did the rolling down the rocks thing yourself," he said, floating around, and waving his staff like a child. Hiccup glared at him, turned around, and started trying to work out the best way to get down the mountain. Once he had made his decision, he started storming off down his chosen path. "Hey hey hey, where are you going? Come on, we were just starting to have some fun," Jack said, coming over next to Hiccup as he wound his way around large rocks and trees.

"Yeah. Fun. Right," Hiccup said, keeping his eyes focused on where he was going. He picked up the pace, hoping to get away from Jack, even though he knew that it was no use.

"Hey, come on now!" Jack protested, grabbing Hiccup's arm in hopes of stopping him. His plan backfired; The short boy lost his footing, and fell over once again, rolling down, down, down, until he fell off of a small, cliff-like portion of the mountain. Jack cringed as he watched Hiccup go over the hill, and heard a thud a second later. He went back to his feet, and ran over to the cliff side, looking down to find Hiccup sprawled on the ground, obviously in some pain. One hand was over his shoulder, and he was cringing. Jack jumped down, landing softly with the aid of the wind, and looked over Hiccup quickly. "Are you alright?" he asked, worriedly.

"Oh yeah, just fine! It's not like I just fell and hurt my shoulder or anything," Hiccup said angrily.

"Shoot, I'm so sorry. Do you have any idea what's up with it?" Jack asked, kneeling down beside Hiccup and looking at his shoulder.

Hiccup cringed again when he tried to move it. "Just that it hurts. Something about it doesn't feel quite right," he said, trying unsuccessfully to sit up.

"Just stay down there," Jack said, trying to gently move Hiccup's heavy fur vest out of the way so he could get a better look. His shoulder looked slightly deformed; definitely dislocated. Jack sighed. "Alright, you're going to need to lie on your back, move your hand and stick your arm out." Hiccup looked at Jack, puzzled, but reluctantly complied. After a deep breath, Jack bent down, and gently grabbed Hiccup's hand. He braced his foot against Hiccup's torso, and began to pull gently on the arm. Hiccup groaned at the pain, but allowed Jack to keep working at it. After a minute, the shoulder seemed to move back into it's proper place. Hiccup shouted slightly as it happened, but afterwards seemed much more comfortable. "How's it feeling now?" Jack asked.

"Better. It still hurts, but not nearly as much," Hiccup said, standing up. He went to walk away again, but Jack grabbed hold of his wrist before he could get anywhere. "Would you mind letting go? Remember where this got us last time," Hiccup said, still clearly upset with Jack.

"Just hang on a second, geeze." Jack quickly grabbed a small pile of dirt and needles, blowing on them to freeze them together and keep them relatively cold as a whole. He then handed the frozen mass to Hiccup. "Keep that on it," he said.

Hiccup glared at him, but took the ball of dirt and placed it between his shoulder and his vest. "Thanks. Now do me a favor and leave me alone, seeing as all you do is cause me pain and problems, and don't especially care about what happens with me anyways." Hiccup said disdainfully, walking away again.

The comment hit Jack hard. At first he was extremely sad and hurt, but then he was enraged. He stormed his way in front of Hiccup, stopping him in his tracks.

"Don't care about what happens with you? What was all that that I just did back there? Sheep dung? Glad to know you appreciate the people that help you out when you're injured!"

"Like you've ever done anything for me before that! All it's ever been is freezing the ground to make me slip, freezing my feet to the ground, and bothering my dragon! What of that possibly says you give the slightest bit of a goat's ass towards me?" Hiccup shouted back.

Jack had no comeback. He simply stood before Hiccup, glaring him down angrily, unsure of what else to say. "Thought so. Good riddance," Hiccup said before pushing Jack out of the way and continuing down the mountain.

Hiccup heard Jack say something as he walked away, but he couldn't quite hear what it was. He sighed, and turned around one final time. "What?" he asked, thoroughly annoyed.

Jack looked Hiccup straight in the eye, the expression in his eyes as icy as their color. "What other means do I have to get your attention? Most people can't even see me, and that's my only way to interact with them! I'd like to see how you react to someone you're drawn to being the first mortal to be able to see you in hundreds of years!" he shouted.

"Can't even wh-" Hiccup started, but Jack was long gone. He had shot up into the air, and was now lost among the clouds.

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed chapter one, I certainly enjoyed writing it. Please do me a favor and write a review, I love feedback. No need for it to be anything massive, just whatever's on your mind about it. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Wow, it's been awhile. Sorry about that, I've been really quite busy with the end of high school and preparing for college, not to mention that I didn't have an especially great writing program, nor a comfortable keyboard at the time. But all of that is changing, so with any luck I'll be updating more often now! Thanks for the feedback I've received so far, and please remember to review!  
**

Hiccup eventually found his way down the mountain, after taking a moment to think. Eventually he just shrugged off the encounter with Jack, blaming the outburst on simply Jack being dramatic. He meandered through the forested areas until he found the gorge in which Toothless stayed, and finally got around to some time to spend learning about and bonding with his dragon.

He spent a decent amount of the rest of the day playing and working with Toothless, taking him out to work on the entire idea of flying. He still hadn't worked out the whole manmade tail idea yet, and was determined to get the entire thing to work out.

After another expectedly unsuccessful day on getting the new tail to work, Hiccup gave Toothless a few fish that he had caught earlier to eat, and made his own way home. The light of day was starting to wane, and though his father wasn't home, he still wanted to get back to the house before nightfall. One could never truly tell when a hunt for the dragon nest would come to an end.

He was glad to see that there was still no one in the house when he made it there. At first he thought about food, but then he realized that he really wasn't all that hungry; he had eaten a fair amount of his own fish when he was over with Toothless that day. There wasn't really any way for him to go out and get food at this hour anyways. Instead he just climbed his way up the stairs to his room, and lay down on his bed, contemplating his day. Aside from the newest idea for Toothless' tail being a failure, there wasn't all that awful much that was any different from any other day. Dragon training hadn't gone well, as per usual. The only thing that wasn't normal was the way Jack had been acting. Hiccup didn't think it could really be more than Jack being overdramatic about the entire situation; you piss someone off in that way, and you fully deserve whatever you have coming to you. Right?

_I still don't understand that whole thing about not being seen though... And what was all that about being hundreds of years old? There's no way he's much older than me! Dramatic and a liar! But who in the world does he expect to believe that? I mean, yes, he can fly, and yes, he has weird snow powers. But that doesn't automatically make him immortal too!_

Hiccup groaned and turned over onto his stomach, squashing his face into his pillow. He held his shoulder for a moment. The pain had subsided by that time, but he could almost still feel the soothing cold from that dirt mass that Jack had frozen for him, though he had thrown it away long ago when it began to crumble and melt. He allowed the sensation of the cold that was still mysteriously left over to envelope him, and soon enough he fell asleep.

The next morning, Hiccup awoke to find that it was far colder than seemed normal for the time of year. He pulled the blankets tightly around him, shivering slightly. He opened his eyes to look out the window and found he could see his breath. After one harsh shudder, he stood up, rubbing his tired eyes a little, and walked over to the window. There was frost around the sides of the panes, and it appeared that there was frost on the grass outside as well.

He quickly pulled on his shoes, grabbed his journal and a pencil, and ran down the stairs. He cut himself a couple of slices of bread, and ate them as he ran outside. He figured that whatever was going on was likely Jack's doing, and the only way he knew that he'd have any chance to find him was on Toothless, if he could work out how to get his tail to work properly. He needed to be able to see toothless and plan everything out properly. He felt that he was close; there'd be a lot of work involved, but he had already worked out most of the difficult parts from what he could tell. It was all minor technical things that he needed to work out.

He was almost out of the view of the village, when he heard a voice call his name. He turned around, half hoping to see Jack. Instead he was met with Snotlout and the twins, all looking puzzled. "Aren't you coming to dragon training?" Ruffnut called out to him.

Hiccup grimaced for a moment. "Uh, yeah! I'm just, ahh... Just looking for my knife!" He called back, before quickly slipping away, towards the trees nearby. He hoped he could hide in there for a moment, in case they tried to follow him.

_Drat, I forgot all about dragon training this morning, _he thought as he took cover behind a frosted bush. He stayed kneeling behind that bush for a few moments, keeping his breathing quiet and listening for any sign of the three following him.

"Hiding, now, are we?" He heard a voice say from behind him. Hiccup shouted slightly in surprise, and fell forward as he looked back to see who the speaker was. Jack.

Jack was glaring down the smaller boy, his gaze no more friendly than when he had flipped on Hiccup the day before. Hiccup sighed, putting his head in his hand for a moment.

"So clearly something's up. I wake this morning halfway to frozen, and now I have you upset at me over something or other unknown," Hiccup said. It was true, he planned on seeking Jack out to see what was going on, but he was hoping to at least find him when he was actually looking, not to be surprised by him as he was hiding from the others.

Jack raised his arm slightly and looked away as if in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? Did you not hear a word I said yesterday?"

"Look, just tell me why you're here already," Hiccup said, looking away in aggravation.

"To try and fix things! I was hoping that maybe you'd be willing to just have a chat, but apparently instead everything has to be angry and hateful," Jack shouted.

Hiccup opened his mouth to shoot out a comeback, but he stopped himself. Jack was right. They weren't going to get anywhere with sheer argument. He took a deep breath, and thought through his response for a moment. "How about this," he started calmly. "I have to head over to dragon training in a couple of minutes. I'm probably going to be late as it is. When that's over, I'll meet you at the entrance to the gorge Toothless is in. We can work things out then," he said. "Fair?"

Jack waited a moment, thinking it over. "Fair," he finally said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello friends! So after a bit of an internal debate, I've made the decision to keep working on this rather than clean, pack for college, and/or watch Once Upon a Time. Enjoy!  
PS: Please remember that reviews are always welcomed, encouraged even! I love feedback on my stories. Thanks everyone!**

Hiccup could tell throughout training that Jack was still upset, and the result wasn't going over well with anyone. The few times they had a pause, it was almost always met with a complaint from someone, and occasionally, whilst running, someone met an unlucky slip atop some ice. It eventually reached the point that Gobber threatened to skin and gut anyone that made any more complaints. Otherwise, aside from expected happenings as a result of Hiccup's newfound knowledge from working with Toothless, nothing especially unusual happened throughout training. Everyone seemed a bit too chilled to bother throwing insults around, at least as frequently as normal.

As soon as Gobber gave everyone the okay to run off, Hiccup slipped away from the group, and started heading for the way to Toothless, and the inevitable conversation with Jack. _Best to just get it over with,_ he figured.

Hiccup was unsurprised to find the tall, lean teenager leaning against one of the rocks that lined the entrance to Toothless' gorge. He was looking off into the distance, lost in thought, not truly seeing any of the things he was looking at. His expression was hard to read; not happy, but not necessarily angry either. Yet Hiccup got the feeling that the impending conversation was about to be at least somewhat harsh and unpleasant. He sighed, and walked over to him. "Hey," he said as he passed.

Jack looked up, his mind shooting back into his body. "Hey," he replied, floating over to Hiccup's side, and then walking beside him. They walked in silence for a moment, and Hiccup quickly trotted away from the boy in favor of his dragon when he saw the familiar black body taking a nap a few feet away. He nudged Toothless, testing just how deep he was sleeping. He figured he was on his own for awhile when he received no response from the being. He sighed, and turned around to face Jack.

They shared a look for a moment, before Hiccup walked over to a rock and sat down, leaning against it. "So," he said, hoping Jack would take it from there.

"So," he heard in response. Nothing more. The two were both silent for awhile, Hiccup against his rock, Jack standing a few feet away. They tried not to look at each other, though would occasionally catch the other's glance, after which they both promptly looked away.

"Alright, how about we start it this way then. What exactly is your problem with me? You play pranks on me for weeks, and then just up and explode at me and leave in some huff or another. I want to know what's going on," Hiccup said finally.

Jack looked down. "I don't have a problem with you. I play pranks on everyone, it's just... no one had ever seen me doing it before. Or even heard me. Of course I came back to you when you could see me," he said quietly.

Hiccup sighed angrily. "Alright, what's the whole thing behind this 'no one can see me' thing? You're there, plain as day. You also made a comment yesterday that you were hundreds of years old, and yet you look barely older than I am. You can't truly think I'd believe any of that, would you?"

"But it is true."

"Yeah, sure. Fine. Tell me how then."

"Well, I'm immortal, for one. And no one but you and your dragon have ever been able to see me. They don't just ignore me, they cannot see me. At all. If someone's walking towards me, unless I get out of the way, they just phase through me. Have any of your friends ever said anything about me?" Jack asked.

"They're not my friends," Hiccup said.

"Not the point. Have any of them ever made even the slightest comment about me," Jack repeated.

Hiccup thought for a moment. They had all seen him slipping on the ice before, and laughed. He had always just assumed that they were all on his side. No real need to talk to someone all the time, as long as they're providing amusement.

Jack cocked his head, knowing his point had been made. "I... I still don't get it though. How does any of this work out? And why can I see you if no one else can?" Hiccup asked, looking up.

Jack smirked, and walked over to the rock, sliding down beside Hiccup. "Because you believe in me," he said. "Don't ask me why, but you do. And I somehow doubt that you're going to stop now, considering all the encounters you and I have had, my friend."

"But why are you immortal? Why can't everyone see you?"

"Because I'm not human, at least not quite like you. All I know is that the moon made me this way," Jack said, looking down at the ground.

"That... doesn't make any sense though," Hiccup said.

"I know, I know. But at the same time, does a flying immortal teenager with ice powers make any sense either?" Jack asked, looking back at Hiccup.

Hiccup laughed, looking away towards the sky. "No, I suppose it doesn't. I still don't get it though," he said.

"Well, whether you get it or not, it's just the way things are," Jack said.

The two sat in silence together for awhile. Hiccup closed his eyes and allowed the world to continue around him. He listened to the birds, felt the breeze on his face. He suddenly realized that things were starting to warm up again, now that Jack had calmed down. "Hey," he heard from beside him. Hiccup opened his eyes and looked back to the white haired boy, who was now sharing his gaze. "I'm... I'm sorry for the way I'd been treating you before. I guess I'm not really the best at talking after a few hundred years of practically no one to talk to," he said. His eyes looked almost sad.

Hiccup laughed a little. "Yeah, I suppose I'm sorry too. I did kind of blow up at you, didn't I?"

Jack smiled. "Maybe just a little. And you 'suppose'?"

"Hey, come on. You have to admit you did give me a lot to be upset about, especially yesterday," Hiccup said, nudging Jack with his shoulder slightly.

"Well yes, but I also fixed your arm up, didn't I?" Jack said, sitting up slightly and puffing his chest out. Hiccup laughed.

"Yeah, that you did. Thanks. But let's not forget why my arm got thrown out of sorts in the first place." Jack deflated slightly.

"Yeah... Sorry about that..." Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's fine, honestly. You did make up for it, at least," Hiccup said, looking off into the distance. He didn't notice when Jack started to stare at him, enchanted. In time, however, he did glance towards the other, and was met with a lighthearted gaze. "What?" he asked, angling his upper body so it was a short distance further from Jack than it had been before.

"Oh, nothing," Jack said, shaking his head slightly, realizing that he'd been caught. "I just... I never thought that anyone would be able to see me. It's nice to have a conversation with someone after three hundred years." He smiled slightly, looking down again.

Hiccup moved back to his more comfortable position against the rock after a moment. Unsure of what to say, he opted for just smiling at the teen instead. He had to admit, he found something strangely fascinating about Jack. He couldn't quite place it, but he felt something almost connecting the two of them.

Jack looked up. "Now you're the one staring," he said with a smirk. Hiccup blinked a couple of times, looking up.

"I suppose I was. Oops." Jack laughed a little.

Hiccup looked down for a moment, and took a deep breath. "I have one more question," he said.

"Which is?" asked Jack.

"Yesterday, just before you flew off. You said that... that I was someone you were drawn to. What did you mean by that?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow am I ever trying to get everything in that I can before I head up to school. At least it seems to be paying off a little? I realize the chapters are a little on the short side, that's something that I'm generally trying to work against. We'll see how well that ends up going. Enjoy chapter four, and please remember that reviews are welcome!**

Jack was stunned for a moment. He had worried about Hiccup thinking on that one at first, but when the conversation went as far as it did without mention of it, he figured that the comment had just flown past the viking. Clearly he was wrong.

"Well, ahh..." Jack started, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. _Way to go, Jack. Now what are you going to tell him? _he thought.

"I just... something about you seemed different from all the other people I had seen before. I'm not quite sure what, but I have to admit that I've been rather curious about you. I mean, among other things, you seem to have a big black friend over there that I don't think any of your other friends would allow to live for very long, if given the chance," he said, gesturing towards the sleeping dragon a few feet away. "And you can see me, which is definitely more than I've seen out of anyone else before," he said, trying to make the whole thing seem as normal as possible.

Hiccup gave him a skeptical look, green eyes squinting slightly. Jack raised his arms up in surrender and said, "It's true!"

After another moment Hiccup raised his eyebrows slightly. "Alright, snow boy. Though I hope you won't mind if I'm not completely sold on your story."

Jacks arms went down to the ground and he leaned forward a little. "It's true!" he repeated, a bit more earnestly.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, speaking of that dragon you mentioned a moment ago, I do believe it's time for someone to wake up," Hiccup said, standing up and walking towards Toothless. Jack smiled as the brown haired boy walked away, before picking up his staff and standing up himself. He opted for floating into a tree and simply observing Hiccup's interactions with Toothless rather than to participate himself. He found a sturdy branch and settled himself into the joint between the branch and the trunk, and watched as Hiccup awoke, played with, and observed the dragon. At one point, Hiccup sat down with a journal open in his hand, drawing and writing something, presumably relating to Toothless, judging by how much he was glancing back up at the Night Fury.

Before he knew it, Jack had dozed off, and wasn't aware of anything having happened until he had landed rather uncomfortably at the base of the tree. "Jack!" he heard someone calling. He managed to get to his hands and knees, shaking his head a bit; everything seemed to be working okay, aside from being in a bit of pain. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Hiccup's worried face staring down at him.

"Are you alright? I was just about to leave, and when I looked around to see where you had gone, I saw you falling," he said, eyes frantic for any sign of injury.

Jack flipped himself over so that he could sit and lean up against the tree, cringing slightly. "Yeah," he said, slightly out of breath when he was well propped against the tree. "In some pain, but I seem to be alright." He tried to force a smile. Hiccup was having none of it, still looking Jack up and down.

"Where does it hurt?" Hiccup asked.

"Everywhere," Jack said.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "More specific, please. Where's it the worst," he tried again.

Jack thought for a moment. "My right side, for the most part. It's nothing too bad though," he tried to assure Hiccup, before cringing at the other's touch when he tested Jack's comment. Hiccup shot him a look.

"Okay, so maybe it's worse than that. But it's nothing I can't handle," Jack said. He specifically didn't mention that his head was in a lot of pain, not wanting to worry Hiccup. He had been through plenty of injuries like this before over the years, simply falling out of a tree wouldn't cause him too much issue for long. He could hear Hiccup saying something, but couldn't place the words. It all seemed a bit jumbled. Then his vision started to go a bit.

Hiccup was shocked to look up and see Jack's eyes closed, head angled slightly to the side. He quickly checked to see if the white haired boy was breathing; he was relieved to find that he was. Hiccup looked around quickly, trying to work out what to do. He knew he had to get Jack somewhere safer than out in the middle of the forest, and the best place would probably be his house. But how was he going to get this much taller teen all the way there? He wasn't especially strong.

Hiccup looked to Toothless. The dragon would probably be the only chance. He carefully dragged Jack over towards Toothless, who was extremely unhappy about the presence of the one who had tormented him just the day before. Hiccup put Jack down as he noticed Toothless starting to snarl, and raised his hands to show that all was okay. "Calm down, bud. I know you're not going to like this, but I need you to do me a favor," he said, approaching the dragon.

"Toothless, I need you to carry him," Hiccup pointed behind him to Jack, "and come with me. I need to get him somewhere safer than here and make sure he's alright." Toothless glared at him, but walked over to the unconscious Jack after a moment. He sniffed the boy, and then layed himself down to allow Hiccup to place Jack on his back. Hiccup smiled, then jogged over between the dragon and Jack. He lifted Jack up by his arms, and pulled carefully until he could position Jack's upper body on Toothless' back. He then carefully swung his legs up, and positioned him in a way in which he hoped Jack would be least likely to fall off.

He was about to see what he could do about getting out of the gorge with Toothless, when he remembered Jack's staff. He looked over to the tree which Jack had fallen from, and noticed the staff hanging from a relatively low branch by the crook at the top. Quickly, Hiccup ran over to the tree, grabbed the staff, and went back to the dragon. "I get the feeling he doesn't want this just laying around in the middle of the forest," he told Toothless, waving it slightly in front of him as he spoke. The dragon gave him a disdainful look, but shook his head and looked onward.

Between the two of them, the boy and the dragon managed to push a decent number of boulders out of the way in the entrance to the gorge. Hiccup told Toothless where to push which boulder, and Toothless complied. Somehow they managed to create a space just large enough for Toothless to walk out of.

"Okay bud, now we have to be really quiet from here. We don't know who will be around where," Hiccup said once they had exited the gorge. He looked around, before whispering, "Follow me."

Darkness was falling by the time they reached the village. Every now and again Hiccup checked on how Jack was doing, but so far there seemed to be no change. The two were much more sneaky once they entered the village, but luckily no one seemed to be around. When they got to Hiccup's back door, he took Jack carefully off of Toothless' back, placed him gently on the ground, and put his hand on the dragon's head.

"Alright bud, now I'm trusting you here. Head back to the gorge, if you don't it could be dangerous. I'll see if I can get out to you in the morning," he said, keeping eye contact with Toothless the entire time. The dragon's eyes widened slightly in understanding, before he turned around and ran back off into the forest. Hiccup smiled as he left, then turned his attention back to Jack.

Hiccup opened the back door to his house, and then carefully lifted Jack by his arms, his own wrapped around the other's shoulders. He then backed into his house, doing his best to keep Jack from running into too many bumps. He took the stairs slowly, both to keep himself from running out of breath, and to keep Jack from getting banged up.

Finally they reached Hiccup's room. He quickly dragged Jack over to his bed, and lifted him into it. He covered Jack up, and then sighed, glad the hard effort was over. He knelt at the side of the bed, staring at Jack, getting himself lost in his features. His expression was strangely calm, not something that Hiccup was used to seeing on that face. He sighed again. "And now, we wait," he muttered, laying his head on his crossed arms and closing his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Heya guys! This may be my last fast action update for awhile, band camp starts on in two days, and I have yet to experience college band camp. I don't know how much time I'll have nor how much I'll want to work on this. Hopefully you won't go too long without hearing from me though? Anyways, thank you to those of you that have been reviewing, I'd love it if you would keep it up! **

When Hiccup consciously awoke the next morning, shortly after the first light of dawn, he was on top of the bed beside Jack. He rubbed his eyes a bit at first, and when he realized where he was, he practically fell off the bed. _I must have crawled up there in the middle of the night,_ he thought, trying his best to avoid a loud crash as his grip slowly loosened on the covers that kept him just above the ground. While he wanted Jack to wake up so that he could make sure he was okay, Hiccup didn't want to cut him out of any rest that he may have needed.

Carefully, he lowered himself onto the floor, trying to keep himself from doing anything that would result in a loud sound. Finally his feet were on the ground, and he stood up. He looked up at Jack to find out that his plan had not been entirely successful.; Jack was stirring. His face was slightly screwed up as he awoke, yawning. When Jack opened his eyes, Hiccup noticed that they were aimed directly at him.

Jack smiled a little when he awoke, something Hiccup wasn't quite expecting. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to begin with, but not a smile, certainly not one like that. Jack's eyes were tender, and his smile wasn't quite his usual over-excited grin. Just a plain old smile. Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "S-sorry... did I wake you?" he asked.

Jack thought for a moment, before nodding his head. Hiccup cringed slightly. "Sorry about that," he repeated himself awkwardly. "Well since you're awake... how are you feeling? You passed out cold yesterday after you fell," he asked. He was about to sit on the bed, and moved slightly to do so, but then thought better of it and returned to his original standing position. Jack shook his head.

"No, sit, it's fine," he said quietly before yawning a second time. Hiccup sat reluctantly. There was a pause, Hiccup staring at Jack, waiting for an answer, Jack staring off into the distance trying to work out how to give one. Eventually, Jack drew in a deep breath. "Better than yesterday, I think. I'll admit that I don't totally remember everything from yesterday... I fell out of the tree, there was pain, and you were there, and... that's it," Jack said slowly.

Hiccup leaned in a little closer and pulled up the sleeve of Jack's hoodie, trying to examine what he could of his now exposed left arm. It had a couple of bruises on it, but it didn't look like anything major. "Does it still hurt very badly? Do you think you can sit up?" he asked.

"Maybe," Jack said, before taking another deep breath and attempting to hoist himself up. Hiccup grabbed him around the arm to help when he saw that Jack was having some slight issues with the task of getting up. Eventually, they finally got him into a sitting position, and Hiccup piled up some pillows between him and the wooden headboard of the bed. "Thanks," Jack said once he was leaning against them, slightly out of breath. He sighed.

Hiccup arranged himself so he was sitting beside Jack, both facing the same direction. He looked into his own lap, unsure of what to do at this point. He contemplated how he should go about everything now that Jack was stuck here for awhile when he felt Jack's head come to rest on his shoulder. He jumped slightly, surprised by the unexpected change. When he looked down at Jack, the white haired boy was smiling again.

"What's got you so happy?" Hiccup asked, before realizing that this was probably a really bad time to throw a question like that out into the open.

Jack's smile grew slightly. "Hmm... nothing really. I just... really like being at your side..." he said. Hiccup blushed slightly, very confused as to what exactly was going on. Rather than press it and risk things getting more awkward, Hiccup opted to go back to staring off somewhere else and thinking about how he was going to go about his day. He had told Toothless that he'd try to get out to him in the morning, sometime before dragon training started for the day. That meant he needed to be out of the house within the next hour or two. Then dragon training, and from there? Go back home to check on Jack and risk encountering the rest of the teens along the way, or head up to Toothless where he could enjoy himself for a little while? He had basically worked out what he needed to do for the tail to work, as far as he could tell. But at the same time, Jack shouldn't really be left alone in the state he was in, certainly not all day.

Jack rubbed his head slightly into Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup looked down, wondering what Jack was doing, and was met with a very intense stare. He was almost taken aback for a moment, but he held the gaze, trying to work out what Jack was thinking. He seemed to be almost searching for something, his eyes darting over miniscule distances. Before Hiccup knew what was going on, Jack shot forward, pressing their lips together. Hiccup wasn't sure what to do- pull away? Flee? Let it go on? As much as he wanted to tell himself that he hated what was happening, a small part of him couldn't help but say the opposite. Jack pulled away, and he returned to the stare he had been giving Hiccup just moments before.

Hiccup wobbled a little, almost falling over again, but this time catching himself before he got anywhere near the edge of the bed. He removed himself from the bed, and ran out of the room, down the stairs, out of the house. He needed to be somewhere alone. He really didn't know what to do now, as if he had before that. Was Jack just delusional from having hit his head when he fell? What in the world was going on here?

Hiccup ran until he was well out of breath, about halfway through the forest to where Toothless was. He stopped, putting one hand on his knee, the other on a nearby tree, trying desperately to catch his breath. Eventually he fell to his knees. He put one hand to his face. _What's happening?_

Jack watched as the brown haired boy fled. He almost started to go chasing after him, but then his body reminded him that he was in no shape to be going anywhere. He pounded on the sheets in frustration for a moment, cursing himself for having been such a fool. Then he sighed, leaning back against the pillows again. He should have known that Hiccup wouldn't feel the same way that he did, but what was he supposed to do? He was trying to show Hiccup that he wasn't just some guy playing pranks all the time, but apparently he took things on way to quickly. _Maybe it has something to do with my fall, something clouding my judgment a little..._ he thought. He closed his eyes, and decided to try and get some more sleep while he could. Hiccup probably wouldn't be back for quite the while.

Jack was startled awake by the sound of a slamming door. As he looked around, he figured it was probably Hiccup downstairs, as the door to his room was still wide open from when he had run earlier. Jack looked out the window. It seemed to be late morning to early afternoon, by the sunlight. He sighed, and waited for the inevitable.


	6. Chapter 6

**Heyo! Aren't you guys lucky that my evenings are filled with a lack of wifi and basically nothing to do because of it at the moment. If your reading this, that's clearly been resolved. But at the moment of my writing this, aside from rearranging my dorm which i dont want to do at eleven at night for several reasons, I literally have nothing better to do. Thank my school's dumb antivirus policy that doesnt really allow one to connect to wifi because of issues in how the process of making sure you have proper antivirus works.**

Hiccup paced through the kitchen for a little while, hoping to delay the confrontation. He wasn't really sure what he was going to say yet, all he knew was that he had to find out what in the Gods names was going on. After some time, he figured he probably wasn't going to get very far, and he started his way up the stairs.

He paused just before he could see into his room. What would he find in there? That Jack had fled? That his injuries from the fall had worsened as a result of trying to follow when Hiccup had run? That Jack was still perfectly fine in bed? And if he did find that Jack was still there in some way or another, what would his thoughts on the kiss be? Clearly that it had been something that he had wanted, but how would he feel now that the deed had been done? Hiccup gulped, took a deep breath, and pushed his way into his room.

Jack had hardly moved. The covers seemed to be a bit more loose on the bed, but for all Hiccup knew, that could have been from when he himself had jumped out of the bed and run. Jack was staring out the window, looking like he was almost trying to ignore Hiccup's presence, though they both knew that he was there. Hiccup stared at him for a moment, expecting him to turn his head shortly after Hiccup had stopped moving. When Jack continued to stare out the window, Hiccup took another deep breath. Just as he was about to say something, all at once, Jack turned his head to look Hiccup straight in the eye.

Hiccup was lost in his expression for a moment. Jack looked sad, apologetic, and... was that loneliness that Hiccup could see, hiding in his eyes? He couldn't quite tell, and wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"Uhh..." Hiccup said, suddenly looking away, having lost the words which he had planned to say just moments earlier. When nothing happened, Hiccup glanced up again, to find Jack's face unchanged. When he had run into the woods to find Toothless and have some time to think, Hiccup had thought that he had worked through every possible scenario of how this conversation could play out, but this was not one of the options that he had prepared himself for. He had figured that with Jack's easily excited personality that he'd probably strike up an argument, or at least end up being loud pretty quickly. But not a word was said.

Hiccup was starting to get very nervous with the way things seemed to be playing out. He started backing away towards the door again, but Jack put his hand out. "Wait," he said. "Please." Hiccup paused, legs still a stride apart. There was another pause. Jack looked down.

"Can you... can you come over here? I just haven't quite worked out how I want to word things yet," he said, turning his pointer finger back and forth into the blanket awkwardly.

"I'm not coming anywhere near you after last time," Hiccup said, holding his ground firmly. He knew that he had been too harsh when Jack cringed at the statement, but he kept to it. He did walk a little further into the room and sit down on the floor as an apology, but he had no plans to take back the words he had said. Jack continued to stare at the blankets, and Hiccup closed his eyes, waiting for the promised words, and listening intently in case Jack decided to try and pull anything.

There was quite a long period before any words were spoken again. Every so often Hiccup would open one eye to check on what Jack was doing, but nothing seemed to change much aside from maybe where specifically on the blanket he was staring. "Okay," Hiccup finally heard. He opened both eyes and looked intently at Jack, well ready for the explanation.

After a short pause, Jack began. "I'm sorry," he began. "To be honest, I'm not totally sure where that whole thing came from. I mean, I will admit that I had been interested in you from the start, but I wasn't thinking of just jumping you like that, especially without knowing which way you go. I was just trying to show you that I was more than just some kid playing tricks, and it just kind of... happened."

There was another pause. "So, that's it?" Hiccup asked. Jack looked up, almost surprised by how direct Hiccup was.

"Well, uhh... Yes and no? I mean, there's more in my head, but I'm not really sure how to say it..."

"Just say it."

"What?"

"Just say it."

Hiccup had been prepared for an argument, and he was painfully aware of how he was now the one basically starting one. But he wasn't about to just let Jack off the hook; he wanted answers.

"I mean, I'd been wanting to talk to you about things like this to see if I was even a candidate-"

"That clearly didn't happen," Hiccup said, standing up.

"Well no, but I also had some form of a head injury to deal with!" Jack said, raising his voice slightly.

"Well you seem to be just fine and dandy now!" Hiccup had walked up to the bed, and was leaning slightly onto the covers.

"And I'm also not tired now!"

Hiccup glared at Jack, and Jack returned it, though softer. Hiccup scanned Jack's face. Under the anger which had been recently brought to the surface, Hiccup could still see every one of the things in Jack's face that he had noticed before. The sadness, the apologetic parts, and even the loneliness. He even dared to say that Jack looked even more lonely now. Hiccup sighed, and turned around, sliding down the bedside until he was sitting on the floor.

Hiccup put his arms on his legs and his head in his hands. They were both silent for a long time again. He heard Jack pull himself over to look down over the side of the bed at him.

"You're confused," Jack said simply.

"What?" Hiccup said in almost disbelief, turning himself to look at the white haired boy.

"Don't try denying it. When you've been around and people watching for as long as I have, you pick up generic body language. What's on your mind?" Jack asked.

"You have no place to start trying to play the good guy here," Hiccup said, turning back around.

"So you won't even give me a chance to work things out?" Jack asked.

Hiccup took a deep, angry breath, and stood up, turning around violently. "You want to know what's on my mind so badly? Here," he said, quickly rushing Jack and pressing their lips together.

The kiss was forceful and quick, over just seconds after it began. Hiccup walked away from the bed almost immediately after pulling away, and started pacing back and forth angrily. "I don't know how I feel about any of this! I've hardly even met you, and yet I still want this to happen? But at the same time everything just feels so wrong! I wanted Astrid, and then you suddenly come around, kiss me out of nowhere, and everything's been turned on its head! How do you expect me to be feeling with all of this going on?" He faced Jack on the last question, before backing up towards a wall and sliding down that, his face partly hidden behind one hand.

Jack was stunned into silence, and Hiccup was now embarrassed on top of all of his confusion. "I just... I need some time. Time to get things straight for myself," he said quietly.

"...Okay." Jack said after a moment.

Neither one said a word for a long time. They kept to themselves, glancing at one another from time to time, but doing nothing more.

"So... how's the pain doing?" Hiccup finally said, hoping to break the awkward silence.

"I think it's starting to ease up a bit, though I haven't done much moving all day, so I suppose in the long run I can't really tell at the moment," Jack told him.

Hiccup leaned his head against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "Hopefully you're healing," he muttered. He glanced down at Jack, who was once more staring at him. Jack smiled a little when he noticed Hiccup look over at him, and he moved over to the side of the bed he was originally on, patting the now open space next to him to invite Hiccup to sit beside him.

Hiccup sighed, but got up and wandered over to his bed, climbing on top and sitting where Jack's hand had been moments before. He then resumed the position he had been in across the room, with his head up against the headboard, and staring at the ceiling again.

"...Anything you feel like talking about?" Jack asked after awhile. Hiccup shook his head and closed his eyes.

"At this point I'd rather go to sleep than think about it," Hiccup said quietly.

"Well... you are aware that you're on a bed, yes?" Jack asked jokingly.

Hiccup smiled. "Yes, thought to be perfectly honest I'm not sure I feel safe with you on the other half," he said.

Jack gasped in mock shock. "And to think that I thought you had learned to trust me," he said.

Hiccup's smile broadened a little. "Not that much, snow boy. I'm also not going to just up and leave you though. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you fell off the bed and made your bruises twice as bad," he said.

Jack laughed. "You know, I'm not sure I can blame you there. I don't mind though," he said.

"I didn't think you would," Hiccup replied. He stayed where he was, unsure of whether he should take a nap or stay awake in case Jack did something stupid.

"Hey," Jack said, nudging him a little. Hiccup looked over, and was met with a smile. "Go nap. I promise I won't touch you or do anything that would throw me even more out of sync."

Hiccup returned the smile, and yawned a little. "Alright then. Good night?" he asked, unsure as to whether he should say that or not. Jack nodded, and Hiccup got off the bed, taking one of his pillows with him, and laid down across the room, closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to overcome him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey all! Band camp's finally over, so for once I actually have some free time. That took long enough. So here I am! I hope you enjoy the chapter, and remember, reviews are always welcome! (Especially constructive criticism, for the record. I love constructive criticism.) Thank much to those who have been reviewing!**

Jack stared as Hiccup fell asleep, watching his body slowly rise and fall with his breathing. Hiccup was facing away from him, towards the door. This didn't surprise Jack at all, though in a lot of ways he wished that he could see Hiccup's face. After everything that had occurred that day though, he wasn't going to complain. He was lucky that things were going as well as they were at this point.

When Jack noticed that Hiccup's breathing had deepened, he figured that the chances were that he was asleep. Finally feeling free from disturbing Hiccup, Jack sighed, deeply and audibly. He closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again and staring straight ahead at the wall across from him. He smiled slightly.

Hiccup's short but forceful kiss came to mind. His smile broadened slightly as he thought about it. Angry and confused as it had been, there was so much more hiding within it. Potential. Jack did, in fact, have a chance with the boy. There was a lot of mending to go into the situation before any of that could be considered, and Jack had certainly taken the wrong course of action; but he had a chance. That was all that mattered to him.

Jack leaned his head into the pillow and closed his own eyes once more. He wasn't sure he necessarily wanted to fall asleep, but he didn't really have much to do anyways. He didn't want to snoop around Hiccup's room, not after the mistakes he had already made. After some time though, he too gradually fell under the spell of sleep.

A couple of hours passed before Hiccup awoke. He rubbed his eyes a little, and glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to set, casting a faint orange color over everything. He sighed slightly. His nap hadn't helped him work anything out, but he supposed that was to be suspected. Generally one doesn't consciously think about anything when asleep. Hiccup looked over at the bed to see Jack laying on his side, one arm splayed out across the bed, fast asleep.

Hiccup smiled a little bit, sitting up and crossing his legs, looking at the floor. He sighed again. What was he going to do? He was straight, last he had checked. Clearly that was not truly the case, not if he was beginning to feel things for Jack after something so small as a sleepy kiss. He put his head in his hand, wishing that things could only be simple for once. Things never seemed simple in his life. Always some difficulty, some challenge.

He heard Jack stir after a moment. At this, Hiccup looked up, to see only Jack turning and mumbling slightly in his sleep, little things that couldn't quite be made out. Hiccup stood and walked over to the bed, staring at Jack for a little while. As long as the two had known each other, Hiccup had never quite managed to really get a good look at Jack. Up until recently, the most he'd ever see of the white haired boy was generally just a faint blur or a second or two when Jack was staying in one place while playing pranks. But now that Hiccup could really look at him, he was entranced. From the sturdy, yet somehow graceful jaw, to the dark eyebrows that really didn't match his white hair, but still managed to work, to his slightly angular ears.

Hiccup was slightly surprised as to just how pale Jack really was. It made sense, considering the whole spirit of snow kind of thing going on, but Hiccup wanted to get a decent look nonetheless. He wasn't sure he had ever seen someone so pale before. Carefully, Hiccup leaned closer, telling himself that his only reasoning was to get a good look at Jack's skin. After a moment of inspecting it, he carefully lifted his hand, and nervously lowered it down to touch Jack's face. When nothing happened at the initial contact, Hiccup started to gently stroke his face.

_I'm only seeing what his skin is like... Nothing else. Nothing else at all, _he thought to himself. His hand continued to follow a generic path from the top of Jack's cheek bone to about halfway down his chin. Slowly, but somewhat sweetly, Hiccup became entranced, and lost himself within Jack's features.

He stayed like that until a voice brought him out of it. Hiccup wasn't entirely sure what the voice had said, all that he registered was someone speaking to him. When he looked back consciously to Jack, he realized that the icy blue eyes were open, if sleepy, and that his hand was still gently stroking Jack's face, which was very close to his own.

Hiccup jumped backwards and lost his balance, swinging his arms a little before falling to the ground. Jack giggled a little bit. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Hiccup turned away in embarrassment, blushing slightly. "N-no, it's okay..." he said, trying to hide his face. Jack laughed a little again.

"So," Jack started, his voice slightly throaty with the effort he exerted as he sat up in the bed, "may I ask what that was about?" Hiccup was silent, still looking away and hoping that Jack couldn't see how red his face was. The room stayed silent. Jack smiled after a little while, allowing a slight chuckle to escape. "Alright, I see how it is. Don't worry yourself to pieces about it. Though I will admit that I am quite hungry at this point," Jack added in the end quickly, hoping that a subject change would help Hiccup feel a bit more normal about it all.

"O-oh... umm..." Hiccup started, still turned away. "C-can you stand? Maybe walk, do you think?" he asked, trying to swallow his embarrassment as he looked sideways at Jack.

"Well, only one way to find out," Jack said after a moment. Carefully, he turned, swinging one leg over the side of the bed, followed by the other. He gently lowered himself to the ground, and took one step gingerly. He winced slightly when he tried putting weight on his right leg, but it wasn't anything that he felt he couldn't handle. He glanced at the walls beside the bed, and once he noticed that Hiccup had in fact thought to bring his staff along, Jack reached out and grabbed it. "Good thing this fella can double as a walking stick," he said with a smirk.

Hiccup had turned to face Jack as he noticed that he was trying to get up. He smiled at the comment, glad to see that Jack at least still had his good humor about him. "Alright then," he said, standing up. "You want some help with the stairs or...?"

"I should be fine," Jack said. He casually limped over to the door, and was then met with the sight of the staircase. The steps were a bit taller than he had thought. He gulped slightly, but didn't back down on what he said. Carefully, he lifted his staff and placed it on the next step down, followed by one leg, then the other. He almost lost his balance a couple of times, but he thought he was doing well.

A couple steps down and a few nearly falling over episodes later, however, Hiccup grabbed Jack by the arm and carefully brought himself down beside the other. He looked over at the white haired boy, a slight smirk on his face. "You so sure you're going to make it down these steps alone?" he asked. Jack was silent for a moment, a touch embarrassed. "Come on," Hiccup said, carefully leading Jack down the steps, allowing him to use Hiccup's body as a brace.

When they reached the ground level, Hiccup pointed to a chair before the fire pit that lay nearly in the middle of the room, and quickly wandered down into the cellar to get some vegetables and dried fish to put into a soup. He emerged quickly, and after putting them on a surface low enough for him to cut them up on, he quickly grabbed a bucket and ran out to the communal well for some water.

When he returned, he quickly set to making the soup, lighting the fire and placing a pot that had since been filled with the water on a pole overtop, and then cutting everything else up and tossing it in. "Never would have thought you'd go to the trouble of making me a meal," Jack said absentmindedly.

"You said you were pretty hungry," Hiccup replied as he tossed in the last of the vegetables. "And you're not the only one eating here."

Jack moved his head quickly as if to say, "fair point," and stared into the fire a little. Meanwhile, Hiccup pulled over another chair, and sat perpendicular to Jack, within access of the pot so he could stir the soup easily when necessary. They were both silent, listening to the crackle of the fire, the bubbling of the soup, and their own thoughts.

When Hiccup deemed the soup ready, he got up and quickly grabbed a couple of bowls and spoons from the cupboard. He placed all but one bowl on the chair he had been sitting in previously, and took the ladle he had been using to stir with, pouring some soup into the bowl. He then grabbed one of the spoons, and handed it and the bowl to Jack.

It took a moment for Jack to notice. Hiccup cleared his throat, and at the sound Jack looked up, slightly surprised. "Oh, thanks," he said when he registered what was going on, outstretching his arms to take the bowl and spoon from Hiccup.

Hiccup smirked a little, then poured some soup into his own bowl, and sat down, setting the bowl gently in his lap as he waited for it to cool. He sighed a little, zoning out at the wall across from him. He still wasn't sure what to do about his feelings. And then there was Toothless to worry about, too. He had to make sure that the dragon was okay, and he still needed to work on the mechanism for his tail. He was pretty sure that he had the whole thing worked out at this point, he just needed to actually go through and make everything.

But those were all things for a different time. Right now he still had Jack to worry about. He glanced over at the boy beside him, who was now blowing on a spoonful of soup. Hiccup noticed that his breath slightly froze the top of it, and then the heat from the rest of the spoonful would melt the ice. Judging by how Jack didn't flinch when he brought it to his mouth, though, Hiccup got the impression that it did the job for cooling it down to the desired temperature.

Hiccup looked down at his own soup, before doing the same thing. He had to admit that he was a little disappointed when the soup didn't freeze for him, but he knew that it wouldn't from the beginning. Instead of being upset about it, he simply brought the soup to his mouth, chewed a little, and swallowed.

The two ate in silence. Neither quite knew what they should say, so instead they focused on the action of eating. Before long though, they had both finished. Jack asked for a second bowl, which Hiccup filled for him, but Hiccup found himself to be quite full from the one bowl that he had. He set his bowl aside, and sat quietly in his chair, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly.

"Hey," Jack said. Hiccup turned to look at him; he had a mischievous look on his face. "Open up," Jack said.

"What?" exclaimed Hiccup, very much confused.

"Open up," Jack repeated.

"Why in the world would I-"

"Just do it," Jack cut him off.

Hiccup was reluctant, but eventually found himself opening his mouth rather wide. Without warning, Jack flung some soup from his spoon into Hiccup's mouth. Hiccup panicked for a moment, expecting soup to go splattering all over him, but he was surprised when something cold hit his tongue. He closed his mouth, hoping to keep it from escaping, and before he knew it, it exploded, soup rushing through the now shattered- and mostly melted- frozen broth.

Jack laughed a bit. "What's so funny?" asked Hiccup.

"Nothing much. Just your face when you realized what it was," Jack said.

"You act like I would have reacted any other way," Hiccup said, turning away in a partially mock huff.

"Oh come on now, don't be like that. It was just a bit of fun," Jack said, leaning forward.

Hiccup smiled. "I suppose," he said. He glanced out the window. The sun had long past set at this point, and the moon was low on the horizon, amongst a few clouds. "I kinda wish we hadn't slept so long earlier," Hiccup said absentmindedly.

Jack followed his gaze out the window. "I guess. Though personally I quite like the nighttime. Especially when the sand man gets to work, but around here you people get to sleep rather late and I generally end up missing it," he said.

Hiccup gave Jack a sidelong glance, but shrugged off the comment, figuring that he'd find out what Jack was talking about at some point, one way or another.

They were silent for a minute or two again. "You wanna go sit outside?" Hiccup asked eventually.

Jack smiled a little and nodded. "Sure," he said. The two stood up, and Hiccup took Jack by the arm again, just to make sure that he'd make it out the door and properly onto the steps where he was thinking of sitting. Jack leaned against Hiccup gratefully. They made their way out the door, and sat down on the steps, both staring at the sky.

Once again, they were quiet for some time. Eventually, Hiccup yawned, still tired from his post-nap drowsiness. He closed his eyes, and without noticing, he leaned his head against Jack's shoulder.

Jack glanced down in surprise when he felt the new weight on his shoulder. He opened his mouth to ask, but thought better of it just as the words were about to come from his mouth. Instead, he looked back up at the sky for a little while, before slowly, gently, laying his own head against Hiccup's.

Hiccup's eyes shot open when he realized what was going on after Jack's head made contact with his own. He was just about to bolt straight upright, but instead he remained where he was. His head was screaming at him to get up, to get away, but at the same time, something was telling him to stay. Something about the situation felt right. After a moment of internal debate, he relaxed, and closed his eyes again, leaning ever so slightly more into Jack's shoulder.


End file.
